The Danger of Falling Short
"See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it."
Hebrews 3:12, 16-19 &4:1
Would you take a warning about a hardened heart? Or do you think, this is a good subject to hear about then go on? Or would you come to a full stop and examine your heart?
I confess to not examining my heart.
What do we mean by a hard heart?
It’s one unwilling to confess sin. A hard heart is one unwilling to turn from sin. Hardened hearts are greedy, resentful, willing to be immoral, willing to hate and unforgiving. This final one strikes us to the core-a hard heart says "I'll do this myself." We may not say, "Stay out Jesus"...but this is what we do when we take life on without turning everything to Him. A hardened heart always falls short.
What? We say, "I never do this!"
Read verses16-19 in this passage again...who hardened their hearts? The very people closest to God. The people who saw the miracles in Egypt: from a bloody Nile to the deaths of firstborn...the people who walked on the floor of the Red Sea and never got wet! The people who were led by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. They HEARD the thunder of God's power on the mountain. They drank from water pouring out of rock. The people who ate the bread of heaven. The Israelites…God’s chosen people.
And they hardened their hearts in unbelief!
We cannot say a hardened heart can never happen to us. The Israelite people sinned against God while in the desert...no movies, no screens, no temptations from cities, few material things. We are fools if we think we can escape a hard unbelieving heart. The world around us hardens our hearts. We are to be in the world but not of it. A hard heart falls short. It does not meet God’s desire for righteousness in us.
Just as a throw from the outfield that falls short allows the runner to score. Or a drowning sailor sinks to the bottom and drowns if the life ring falls short. Unbelief in Jesus is falling short…falling short comes from a hardened heart. "Let us be careful" (while it is still called Today) that none of us be found to have fallen short of the promise of eternal rest found in Jesus.
My friend, consider these fitting words from Christian author Lee Strobel: "After all, if there is an afterlife, you'll be spending a lot more time there than here." (From the book "The Case for Heaven.") A hardened heart may keep us from God-forever.
How do we keep from falling short? Let Jesus examine your heart today...
And one additional verse from the Book of Hebrews…think of it as counsel to prevent “falling short.”
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”
Hebrews 12:1